The C.I.A. director, William J. Burns, will meet in Warsaw on Monday with Israeli and Qatari officers for talks aimed toward restarting hostage and prisoner exchanges, in keeping with U.S. officers.
Underneath a weeklong truce between Israel and Hamas final month, 105 hostages had been freed in alternate for the discharge of Palestinians from Israeli jails earlier than negotiations broke down and the conflict resumed on Dec. 1. Since then, American officers have pushed numerous proposals aimed toward continued humanitarian releases or different exchanges.
Resuming talks has been difficult, with deeper variations over the phrases of additional exchanges.
After the deal fell aside, a U.S. official stated publicly that Hamas “reneged” on an settlement to launch all feminine hostages. A Hamas official stated it thought-about a few of the remaining feminine hostages to be troopers.
Israeli officials, talking on the situation of anonymity, stated Hamas didn’t launch as many hostages as promised, whereas making extra calls for. Hamas had been proposing offers that will launch extra Palestinians from Israeli jails, together with higher-profile detainees. Israeli officers insisted they wished all girls and kids launched earlier than discussing additional exchanges.
There are some causes to assume that new talks could also be fruitful. After the accidental deaths of three hostages, who had been shot by Israeli forces, the Israeli authorities is below extra strain to safe the discharge of the remaining folks being held by Hamas and its allies in Gaza. America can be growing strain on Israel to reduce its main fight operations in Gaza and transition to a new phrase in the war.
Mr. Burns is about to fulfill with David Barnea, the top of Mossad, Israel’s spy company. Mr. Barnea has been main the Israeli negotiation efforts, and the White Home tapped Mr. Burns to work with him.
The 2 males will converse in Warsaw with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani of Qatar. The Qataris host Hamas’s political wing in Doha and have been working to facilitate negotiations.
Neither Israel nor the U.S. converse on to Hamas management, however as a substitute work via the Qataris.
The resumption of talks was earlier reported by Axios. A spokeswoman for the C.I.A. declined to remark, citing the company’s coverage of not discussing the journey of the director.
